Mrs Bernard was speaking so fast that I couldn’t understand a word she was saying. I didn’t know what to do except ask her to get a grip on herself. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose with the edge of her wrapper, then she stuttered the introduction again. Ok, I got that the first time, but what does she really want?
So she had a story. She was in Mubi because her husband lacked the guts to face me. The past 14years has been terrible for both of them, one of the reasons being the problem of childlessness. After several hospital visits and consuming all kinds of herbal concoctions without results, they resorted to a cleric who told them that there was a curse hanging over her husband. He had offended a good woman so he had to go and beg for her forgiveness because of the things she said in anger. It wasn’t so much about the things said by this woman but HOW she said them and she was the only solution to the problems they were facing.
Mr Bernard was heartless and cruel no doubt, but teacher Lilly wasn’t the type of person to curse anybody. So she advised the woman to go back and ask her husband about the other women he had issues with.
Read also: The Blood- 1
When Lilly returned home from work that evening, she told her mother about her encounter with Mrs Bernard. The older woman was quiet for sometime as her mind wandered off in deep thoughts.
Its been 12years but Mama still remembers that day clearly. She remembers because she had seen a side of her daughter that she never knew existed. Lilly was in labor and was losing a lot of blood, her baby’s life was also in danger and the midwife was trying to save both mother and child. As she writhed in pain, her hand came in contact with the pool of blood on the mackintosh. Lilly froze when she saw it. She grabbed a handful of blood and screamed out words loud enough for the dead to hear. She continued to call Bernard’s name as she cried that he will never hear the cry of a child in his home and that he will continue to work like an elephant yet eat like an ant. Those words said in blood, tears and pain had gone to trouble the Bernards for many years. At the time when that happened, Lilly didn’t think those words meant anything but now she realizes the extent of the things she said. Truly, there is power in ‘the blood ‘.
Lilly knew that Mrs Bernard would definitely come back, maybe with her husband this time and they will plead with her to undo the curse. The thought that she had the power to determine the course of Bernard’s life actually made her feel happy but on the other hand his wife didn’t deserve to suffer because of him.
What will you do if you were in Lilly’s shoes?
